#I’ll do music monday and wip wednesday on... monday and wednesday

[lulu2992]

Ask meme!

I was tagged by @the-silver-chronicles :) Thank you!

Two Truths, One Lie

Rules: Post a 24-hour poll containing two truths and one lie about your OC's background. Have your followers try to guess which is the lie.

[ladykailitha]

Icarus Part 12

I've decided that since I have a fair amount of backlog on the three I've been doing WIP Wednesday for, that I'd post some of them to give me time to work on the rom-com AU more.

I recommend going back and re-reading part 11 at least before reading this one to be on the safe side.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

The Fallen boys need a break and Robin and Chrissy meet up with Nancy.

****

Things were going really well in the studio now that they had Bob Newby as their producer and their studio was closer to home so they could live their normal lives and still be in the studio recording.

It was the happiest the band had been in awhile. Which was why Steve should have seen it coming. The dark cloud on the horizon.

Shane was late.

That wasn’t to say that it was out of the ordinary or whatever, but it was now two hours late and Spence was pissed.

“When I get my hands on his scrawny neck,” he hissed. “I’m going to kill him.”

Simon rolled his eyes. “You’re just upset because it’s means you’ll be late for your date or whatever with Nadia. He’ll be here.”

“That’s not true and you know it, Asmodeus,” Spence bit out. “This is the third time this week and yeah, so what if I have a life outside of this, but that’s not why.”

Just then Shane stumbled in. He looked like absolute shit. His clothes were disheveled, his hair was a mess, and he wore dark sunglasses. Clutched to his chest was a large coffee.

“Fuck...” he mumbled as he shambled over to the sofa. He lowered himself gently onto the thing with a stream of curses. “Sorry I’m late, but my hookup last night turned off my alarm.”

He took a long sip of his coffee and rubbed his temple. He had finished most of the coffee when he realized that no one had said a word since he arrived.

The door opened and Bob and Robin entered the room looking more than a little cross.

Shane flashed them a smile. “Uh oh, it looks like I upset both mom and dad. So I was a little late. It happens.”

“But it shouldn’t be happening,” Spence said with a scowl. “This isn’t the first time. Hell, it’s not even the first time this week.”

Shane frowned, setting his coffee on the floor between his feet. He rubbed his temples as he struggled to think back. “That can’t be right, it’s only Monday, right?”

Everyone shared concerned glances.

“Astraeus,” Steve said slowly, “it’s Thursday.”

Bob crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You were late on Sunday, Monday and today, Astraeus.”

Shane stared up at them in open shock and disbelief. “There’s no way!” He pulled out his phone and looked at the date.

“Shit.”

“What’s been going on, man?” Simon asked, concerned for the first time. He hadn’t realized how often it had been and was giving Spence shit for wanting to be with his girlfriend.

Shane shook his head. “I have money for the first time in my life. I mean proper money. My parents always had enough to make sure we got into the things we wanted; sports, drama, music, you name it, but there wasn’t a lot of money to go around after, you know? I had to pay for my college education myself and I just wanted to live a little. Spread the money around, even if I couldn’t tell them what I did for a living, they don’t really care.”

“I can see that,” Robin said. “I think we all breathing easier, regardless of our backgrounds because the money we’re getting has pretty much set us up for life if it all went to shit tomorrow, which I really wouldn’t recommend, by the way.”

Shane let out a huff of breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “I really didn’t mean to go off like that, I’ll cut back to just the weekends. I promise.”

Robin and Bob shared a glance.

“That’s strike one, Astraeus,” Bob said, “I don’t take slackers lightly. You want me to continue to work for you guys, you’ve got to step it up.”

Shane nodded empathically. “Can we have a day off a week though? It doesn’t have to be on the weekend, but this seven days a week is really hard.”

Robin blinked at him a moment. “You guys have been coming every day?”

The band looked around at each and all gave a collective shrug.

She turned to Bob. “Is that your schedule?”

Bob’s jaw dropped and he shook his head. “I only do that if there’s a rush to get the album out, which I understood there wasn’t. I don’t how we got on working every day, but Astraeus is correct they need a day off.”

“What works best for everyone?”

The band worked out a better schedule that worked for everyone with it ending with Bob giving everyone the rest of the week off, giving them strict instructions to talk to him about those sort of things before it got to this point.

Robin clapped her hands once. “Right, now that we’ve got that settled, we’re still meeting up at Abbadon’s for dinner to discuss my meeting with Nancy. My meeting is at three and dinner is at six, so don’t be late.” She glared at Shane and he raised his hands in surrender.

“See you all then!”

****

Robin straightened her wig in her rearview mirror and added more lipstick. She wore special contacts that changed her bright blue eyes to a more common brown color. She was dressed in slim fitting white slacks with a bright pink silk blouse and a black leather aviator’s jacket. She hated wearing these clothes, they just weren’t her. At least she didn’t have to wear high heels to this thing. She would have broken an ankle for sure.

But she would sell her soul to the devil if it meant that Steve got to do what he loved. And it wasn’t as though she didn’t love her job either. But Eddie was right, she was on her last frayed nerve and that wouldn’t do her boys any good.

She slid out of her Maserati MC20 and walked up to the restaurant. The Corroded Coffin’s manager, Chrissy Cunningham was going to be there as a mediator.

Robin hadn’t told Steve this, but Chrissy knew who she was. Not the band, she didn’t know that, but she knew that Celeste Baptiste was Robin Buckley. It was just something Robin felt she needed to know before going in there with Nancy. That she personally had a stake in the game, even if it was just as Steve’s best friend.

Chrissy loved the idea of even their manager having an alter ego and it made Robin feel better about her choice to be someone else.

Robin and Chrissy kissed each other’s cheeks in greeting and Robin sat down.

“She’s not here yet?” she asked, looking at her matching watch.

Chrissy shook her head. “She’s running a little behind. One of her clients blew up the internet last night and she’s been having to play hard ball to keep it from destroying their career.”

Robin leaned in close. “Ooh, do you know who it was?”

“That’s for me to know,” Nancy said from above them, “and for you to never find out.”

Robin looked up at her and was struck on how good she looked. It was almost unfair how good she looked.

She was wearing a grey plaid blazer with the sleeves rolled up over a white button shirt and a black pencil skirt. She wore grey boots and matching sunglasses, glasses she took off with a shake of her dark curls.

Robin gulped. Nancy had been intimidating enough in high school, but now she could stare down a raging bull and come away unscathed.

“Hello, ladies,” Nancy said with a smile. “I’m sorry I was late, but I think I managed a god damn miracle and could eat an entire salad bar.”

Nancy sat down and put her phone in her purse.

“Oh are you vegan?” Chrissy asked as the waiter came up with a pitcher of water. Nancy waved him off and ordered a rosé.

“Just vegetarian,” she said with a shake of her head. “I love cheese too much. Plus, I knew a militant vegan and they scare me.”

Robin laughed. “Couldn’t be me, I went full vegan last year and haven’t looked back.”

Nancy and Chrissy both winced, but for different reasons, Nancy for her comment about militant vegans and Chrissy, well...

“I picked this place because it has the best rib eye steak on the planet,” she said with a grimace. “That’s not going to bother either of you if I order that, right?”

Nancy and Robin shared a glance and then shook their heads.

“My best friend loves steak,” Robin said, “It’s his choice to eat it, I just a have a problem with the ethical consumption of meat and other animal products.”

“Most of my clients eat meat,” Nancy agreed. “I’m not about to piss them off because I don’t like the taste.”

Chrissy relaxed and let out a long sigh. “Great!”

She picked up her menu to hide her embarrassment. A few minutes later, their waiter came back and they placed their orders.

Nancy had ordered a pasta with roasted sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms and Robin ordered a simple salad with a vinaigrette.

As they waited for their food, Nancy got down to business. “So as I understand it, the band The Fallen is looking for an agent to help with the legal and PR aspect of their brand, correct?”

Robin nodded, twisting her napkin nervously. Normally as Celeste, she was cooler under pressure but Nancy scared her. Not because of anything she could do to her specifically, but because what she could do to her boys.

Chrissy reached out and laid her hand over Robin’s fidgeting ones. Robin let out a shuddered breath.

“Normally bands like theirs have teams and teams of people doing all the work,” Robin said, “but with the secrecy surrounding their identities the more people that know the easier it is for a leak.”

Nancy nodded. “It’s certainly not the usual thing. But I’ve got a few clients that are strict about their identities and it wouldn’t be a problem, but as I told Chrissy, I would have know everything about them so that I can do my upmost to protect them.”

“Did you sign the NDA?” Robin asked, straightening her spine. This was something she was good at. Protecting her boys and she would do it with the fierceness of a mother bear and her cubs.

Nancy picked up her briefcase and opened it up. She took out a folder and handed it to Robin. Robin looked it over and then nodded.

She stuck it in her purse and pulled out a hard portfolio and slid it across to Nancy. Chrissy squeezed her hand as Nancy read through the documents. Their food arrived in the interim and she set it aside. She steepled her hands and planted her elbows on the table.

“How much of this do you know?” she asked Chrissy.

“Only what I needed to which is who Celeste is,” she replied, “and that both her and Abbadon have a history with you that could be trouble for a lot of people, not just the band.”

Nancy nodded and took a bite of her food before saying anything else. Chrissy and Robin exchanged glances but started eating as well. More for something to do in the intervening silence than because they were actually interested in food at that moment.

After a few moments Nancy blotted her lips with her napkin and set it next to her plate. “This is not what I was expecting when I heard that you had concerns about my professionalism and in all honesty, this is easier to understand then a manager thinking they don’t need the help of an agent when they really do.”

Chrissy and Robin shared a glance.

“Is that something that’s common?” Chrissy asked. Corroded Coffin had already had Nancy as their agent when she became their manager five years ago. They had outgrown their former manager Murray Bauman and was looking for someone younger to manage them so they hired her.

Nancy nodded. “It is.” She turned to Robin. “You’re his best friend, right? The quirky band chick who was always working with him?”

Robin was impressed with her way of asking the question without revealing anything significant about their identity. She brought her finger up to her contact and moved it aside to show the blue underneath before sliding it back into place.

“I’m assuming I’m the last resort?” Nancy asked after taking another bite of food.

Robin and Chrissy shared another glance.

“Not in the way you mean,” Chrissy explained. “I gave her a list of agents that might be able to have them on as clients and we’ve met with a couple of them but decided even before they got to what’s in the folder that they weren’t suitable for their needs.”

“The double lives aspect, I suspect.”

“Both of them wanted to push them into revealing themselves,” Robin said, nodding. “Which was completely off the table.”

Nancy licked her bottom lip and her eyes narrowed. “Is that off the table indefinitely or will we circle back to that sometime in the future?”

Robin rolled her eyes. “There’s no way to predict if they’re going to change their mind five-six years down the line.”

“I’m going to be frank,” she said, “I do not have a problem repping them. Not even Abbadon. But I understand there will be some awkwardness on both sides at first. I will even apologize in person. Because the fact of the matter is, I did hurt him. I strung him along until something better came along and then didn’t even have the decency to break up with him before moving on. I was young and stupid and even worse, I’m not even with that guy anymore. Like with me and Abbadon, we wanted different things.”

“Apologize first,” Chrissy said with a wicked gleam in her eye, “then we’ll see about hiring you for The Fallen.”

Nancy reached out to shake Robin’s hand. “Deal?”

Robin nodded curtly. “Deal.”

They moved onto the more tedious aspects of what they wanted out of Nancy as they finished their meals.

But as Robin was heading back to her car she had a small satisfied smile on her face. Yes, this really was the best option for the band.

****

Because of canon-Chrissy's unhealthy relationship with food, I wanted her to go hard into eating all things that her mom most likely forbade her from eating growing up. Hence the steak and the wine. Nancy I figured would be at least vegetarian with personality (just the vibes I get from her *shrug*) and Robin would absolutely be vegan. Just not a militant one.

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[lavendersuh]

oh my, oh my god 단 너뿐이야

johnny x female reader | college!au, strangers to lovers | 3.9k words

warnings: suggestive content, mentions of alcohol and partying

after a much needed kpop hiatus, i am back and more delusional than ever :D i have so many ideas and wips rn... can't wait to share more with y'all! i would like to dedicate this fic to @sehunniepot bc nikki has been right there next to me in my delusion and been a huge motivation to get back into writing eeee i hope u enjoy!! *title is from "omg" by newjeans!!*

༻ ✧✧✧ ༺

oh my, oh my god, 예상했어 나

i was really hoping that he will come through...

༻ ✧✧✧ ༺

“Just go for it! If it goes horribly, you can blame being drunk and pretend it never happened at all!”

You looked back at your friend, grinning lazily at you from the couch she was perched on. She was a lot more extraverted than you in general, but with alcohol in her system? She was capable of anything.

You? You, you maybe not so much.

With another glance over at the man messing around with the sound system spreading music throughout the house, you saw he was deep in concentration. One hand typed on the laptop keyboard while the other held a red solo cup you assumed held some type of alcohol. His hair was falling in his face as he gazed at the screen, and he wore a shirt tucked into jeans. He looked good in those jeans. 

You flushed at the thought of going over to talk to him, but your friends seemed determined to encourage you to go for it. They had been on a long spiel about how you weren’t ever going to date anyone if you only waited around for others to make a move. You could make the first move! You just feared making a fool of yourself in front of someone you would see two days a week for the rest of the semester. 

Johnny Suh sat three rows behind you in your Monday-Wednesday English lecture, and he probably had to be the most attractive man you have ever seen in your life. 

Okay, that was most likely an exaggeration, but he was a beautiful man. Tall, dark hair, and a good sense of style was the perfect combination for attraction to bloom. You felt giddy just thinking about him.

Too bad you didn’t really know anything about him other than the fact that he sat in the same seat every single week. 

He looked different in this atmosphere though. He seemed more relaxed, and since he was messing around with the music system like he knew exactly what he was doing even with a little alcohol in his system, you assumed he belonged to this frat and lived in this house. You had once seen him walk into class with a fraternity symbol across his sweatshirt, but you were never good at remembering what all those Greek symbols meant. 

While he looked more relaxed, seeing Johnny in a non-academic setting was also extremely intimidating. You were only a few drinks in, mildly tipsy at best, but the alcohol made you warm, and even the idea of not being sober gave you a little confidence. Maybe you could do this.

You could walk over there and make conversation. Get to know him. You could maybe even ask him out for coffee or lunch before class one day. Like your friend said, if things go south, you could always blame the alcoholic atmosphere of a Saturday night frat party. 

“Okay,” you said, as you watched your friends raise their eyebrows at you, “I’ll go do it. Maybe get me a drink just in case it doesn’t go well.” 

Your two friends cheered as you turned around to walk through the small crowd to Johnny. Moving around made you realize you were a little more drunk than you had thought while sitting down, but you were determined at this point. The alcohol would hopefully make you a little loose, break you out of your shell a little bit. 

Johnny took a drink from his red cup as he surveyed the upcoming queued songs for the next hour. Once you were only a few steps away from him, you slowed down as your nerves kicked into high gear. There was a pang of anxiety that shot through your chest at the thought of actually talking to him. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. 

You were three seconds from turning around when his gaze found yours. You must have looked like a deer in headlights in the dimly illuminated air of the frat house, but getting noticed gave you a little spike of determination.

“Hey,” you spoke up as you stepped a little closer, “Johnny, right?” Not the best start, but at least it was something.

“Yeah…” he replied, giving you a slightly suspicious look. It made you realize he probably had no clue who the fuck you were. There were over a hundred people in your class, and it was actually extremely likely that he had never noticed you before.

The alcohol running warm in your veins kept you going though. “I’m Y/N. We’re in the same English class.” 

You offered up a small smile, hoping you don’t seem weird as you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear nervously. His eyes changed a little and you could tell that he at least recognized the academic correlation.

“Oh, hi.” 

It was clear that he was still sort of lost on why you were talking to him. You knew you needed to play it off to lessen the damage and actually attempt to make a conversation out of this interaction. He was just so nice-looking, it made you sort of just want to stare at him in admiration for the rest of the night.

“Um, sorry I came up to you, I don’t normally do this,” you explained to him, ��I’ve just seen you around, and I’m a few drinks in, and my friends told me to stop waiting for shitty dudes to approach me— I should go up to them; it's a whole thing.”

You knew you had a tendency to ramble sometimes, but at least you were talking— at least something was happening. You reminded yourself that talking about something, anything, was better than just being silent. 

The only issue was, rambling was not the best way to communicate.

“Are you calling me a shitty dude?” he asked, giving you a raised brow.

The panic settled in, and you knew your eyes grew wide from how he was looking at you right now. It only lasted a moment before his face broke out into a lighthearted grin.

“I’m just joking around,” he stated, tucking his hands into his jeans, “So what’s this ‘whole thing’ about the shitty guys anyways?”

You were flooded with relief that he was only kidding around, and also that you might actually have a chance at a conversation, no matter how strange it was.

“Oh, well I haven’t really dated anyone for that long, and it's because I always date the dudes that approach me, and I’m never attracted to any of them. So it never goes anywhere,” you explained in what was most likely too much detail. “My one friend saw this TikTok that was like, you need to go up to people you like if you want to be with someone you’re actually attracted to.”

“So… you’re attracted to me?” Johnny replied.

You felt yourself tense at his words, finding yourself flustered under his gaze that had suddenly become a bit more intense than you had remembered it being a few minutes ago. You felt like you could melt under his stare, and you knew your mouth was probably open in bewilderment. You coughed lightly to clear your throat, moving your gaze to somewhere on the wall behind him to avoid his eyes for a moment.

“Uhh, yeah, I, uh, have a classroom crush on you,” you stated, trying to keep your voice steady. Maybe if you faked your way to confidence, he wouldn’t notice the way you felt like your heart might explode from your chest with how wildly it was beating.

Johnny leaned back against the wall you both had been standing near, letting a lazy smile come over his face. “And what’s a classroom crush?”

You rolled your eyes, knowing he was enjoying himself but humoring him anyways, “You know. When you think someone’s cute in your class but you don’t really know anything about them because all you see is them in class.”

At the mention of class, you recalled the fact that after this encounter you would have to walk into class on Monday and see this man in front of you. The idea filled you with embarrassment. You had been slowly digging your own grave, and you were suddenly letting your eyes wander, thinking of a way to just get out of this without embarrassing yourself more.

Johnny made a noise of understanding, drawing your attention back to him, “Oh yeah, I get that.”

“You do?”

“Yeah,” he grinned at you, “I actually have a classroom crush, too.”

“Oh?” 

Oh.

“Mhm,” he nodded as he rubbed his hand over his chin for a brief moment, “There’s this girl in my Monday-Wednesday lecture. She sits a few rows in front of me, but she occasionally turns around a little bit and sometimes I catch her staring at me. She’s so cute when she looks away all embarrassed about it.”

Your eyes went wide as you realized, fuck, oh fuck, that’s you, fuck, he noticed you.

“Oh yeah?” you gulped out. You looked down at his drink, “Can I have some of that?”

He offered the cup to you, letting out a mention that it was strong, but you took a big drink anyways, relishing in the way the alcohol burned going down. You looked back up to see him with a small, little smile on his face directed at you, as he watched you with an amused gleam in his eye.

You swore his smile could melt your insides entirely. “So,” he began, “What happens with a classroom crush, typically?”

The liquid courage from the alcohol had your mouth talking before your brain could really keep up with it.

“I usually just daydream and make up scenarios in my head during class to waste time, and then it kinda fizzles out after a while, usually when the semester is over.”

How were you acting so calm when you felt like you should be freaking the fuck out on the inside. Have you really been saying all of these things out loud? Your words came to an abrupt halt as you stared up at the man just a bit away from you. 

“Have you ever thought about asking the person out?” Johnny asked, his words coming out with a little teasing in his tone. 

You smiled weakly at him, “I guess that’s what I was trying to do with this whole conversation, but I’m just very bad at this.”

Johnny let out a little laugh. “I think you’re doing great. We are talking after all, aren’t we?”

You were grateful that he seemed to not be rejecting you, but you were curious as to what was going on in his head.

“I’m being so dumb right now,” you laughed it off, “I can at least partially blame the alcohol, but I’m just new to this. Hopefully it makes your night a little more interesting.”

“Yeah, you are interesting.” he paused for a seemingly dramatic effect, leaning in closer to you, “I like it.”

He smiled as he glanced from you to the laptop next to him. You had forgotten about the laptop, and the music, and even the party and people around you. You felt lost in the conversation that was happening between the two of you. 

He crouched on the floor to look better at the laptop that was set up on the low table, and he motioned for you to join him. All that was on the screen was the music queue, but you leaned in a little too close to get a better look at the words on the screen. 

Getting so close to the screen also meant being nearer to Johnny, and when you looked over at him, your faces were closer than you had thought they were. Being so close, you could smell his cologne. The new scent registered in your brain, and it made you realize just how much you had learned about Johnny in the past few minutes.

You had clearly been the one talking more, but you were kind of proud of yourself for even getting this far. You had never really talked to one of your classroom crushes outside of class, not even for group presentations, and being in Johnny’s presence just made you like him even more.

“Do you wanna keep making my night interesting?” he asked, drawing you out of your thoughts.

“Oh!” His words bring out your flustered state again, and you jump back and stand up from where you both had been crouching on the floor. “Um, I’m not really comfy doing anything like that tonight--”

“No!” he interrupted, standing up as well while rubbing the back of his neck, “I didn’t mean it like that…. Just, do you want to keep hanging out? I think the guys set up beer pong outside so you could come watch with me?”

As you saw Johnny sputtering a bit from the mix-up, you felt yourself calm down knowing that he was also capable of being thrown off his rhythm. His words ignited butterflies in your stomach. 

“Yeah, sure!”

“Do you, uh, want to go talk to your friends real quick?” he gestured over to your friends across the room, and you looked over to see them trying hard to seem like they weren’t watching the entire encounter, even though they clearly were. You flushed with wide eyes, embarrassed that they were being so obvious. 

“Um, yeah,” you tried to laugh it off, “I’ll meet you in the kitchen?”

He gave you a reassuring smile, “Sure.”

You walked over to your friends, who were all grinning at you like idiots and letting out a few victory cheers. Despite your embarrassment, you couldn’t help but feel happy seeing how goofy and supportive your friends were being. They attacked you with an array of questions.

“Tell us everything!”

“Does he seem interested?”

“Did you ask him out?”

“I keep making a fool of myself,” you replied, “But he doesn’t seem put off by it— I think he might think I’m cute.”

“Yes you are!” one of your friends said, “And he’s so hot!!” 

She pinched your cheeks and you ducked away, rolling your eyes at their drunken antics. You bid them goodbye and slipped through the party to find the kitchen. 

Johnny stood over by the fridge, sipping from a beer can and smiled when his eyes met yours. He offered you a drink, and you accepted a seltzer from the fridge. He gestured toward the back deck, leading you through the back door with his hand on the small of your back. The light touch didn’t go unnoticed, leaving your cheeks warm despite the cold air. 

The two of you stood near the railing to watch a few guys play pong. You sipped your seltzer, aware of Johnny’s arm brushing yours as he greeted others hanging around the game.

Johnny was completely at ease here, leaning against the railing with his arm almost around you, his hand brushing your waist. It almost felt like this was a normal occurrence for the both of you. In the back of your mind, you wondered if he did this often. You watched the game and the people around you silently for a while, basking in the world of Johnny and his friends that you somehow got wrapped up in, even just for a moment.

You were pulled out of your thoughts when Johnny slid his arm up to the small of your back. His hand was big and warm even through the fabric of your shirt. 

He ducked down closer to your ear, “Hey, you okay?”

His eyes peered into yours, a look of genuine interest crossing his face. You smiled back at him. 

“Yeah, I just haven’t been to a party in a while,” you replied, hoping your nerves can be explained away. He didn’t need to know how affected you were by his casual touches.

“Nothing a drink can’t fix,” he said, clinking your cans together with a silly grin on his face. It seemed he knew you were nervous, as he experimented with his touch and kept you close without being overbearing. His casual nature made you even more relaxed.

You went back to watching the increasingly intense game of beer pong, but it was hard to concentrate when you could feel Johnny’s fingers playing with the hem of your shirt. You snuck a look up at him, and while he wasn’t looking down at you, his mouth perked into a smile like he knew you were watching. 

The game started to come to a close, with the crowd of people getting bigger and more rowdy. You turned your attention back to the game, watching as one of the guys sank the last cup, leading to an up-roar of cheers on the deck. You couldn’t help but cheer alongside everyone, raising your drink before taking a big sip.

Unfortunately for you, one of the more inebriated partygoers fell backwards into you, causing your drink to spill all over the front of your shirt. The guy didn’t even seem to notice you break his fall, standing up and running back into the crowd, leaving you with a big stain across your chest. 

Johnny grasped your forearms, making sure you were upright and okay, his eyes scanning over you to make sure you weren’t hurt. 

“Hey, come on, I’ll get you cleaned up,” he says, tucking his arm around your shoulders to guide you through the crowd.

The party is still going strong inside the house, with loud music and dim lights illuminating the swirl of bodies you walk through. Johnny leads you upstairs, which is a lot quieter, despite a few people roaming in and out of rooms. He takes you into the bathroom, gesturing for you to hop on the counter. 

He takes a towel from the linen closet, gently dabbing at the stain on your collarbone. His other hand rests on the counter next to you, before resting lightly on your hip to hold you steady.

You don’t think you’ve let out a single breath since he began, watching his face knot into a look of concentration. You wonder if he can hear your heart about to beat out of your chest. Other than the faint pounding of distant music and the buzz of the overhead light, there isn’t a sound to be heard.

His face is so close, you could count his eyelashes if you wanted to. A few strands of hair fall across his eyes and you find yourself wondering what those locks would feel like under your fingers. His hair looks soft.

You get caught up noticing how much he towers over you, distracted by your own thoughts as you gaze at him. You’re brought out of your reverie when his eyes catch yours, a smile appearing across his features. He tucks a strand of your hair behind your ear, causing goosebumps to flutter up your spine. 

Johnny steps back and clears his throat, as if remembering himself. He looks down at his handiwork, his mouth quirking at the still-visible stain.

“I don’t think that stain’s coming out,” he says, “Hang on.”

He exits the bathroom for a moment, leaving you alone. You take a deep breath. This whole situation makes you feel like all the oxygen has been sucked out of your lungs.

He reappears less than two minutes later, holding a slate gray shirt that clearly belongs to himself. 

“You can put this on if you want,” he says, holding the material out to you. 

You don’t notice the bashful look on his face at the gesture, as you immediately start taking off your shirt to put on the replacement. You do however catch a glimpse at the way Johnny respectfully tries to look anywhere but your torso until you have his shirt on. 

You smile sheepishly once the fabric touches your skin. The shirt is way too big, with the sleeves coming down almost to your elbows. It smells faintly of him, and you look up to see him staring at you intently. You watched as his eyes traveled down the length of you before coming back up and settling on your lips.

“Is everything okay?” you ask, breaking through the silence that had settled over the both of you. 

Johnny clears his throat, “Oh, yeah,” he says, scratching the back of his neck, “You just, uh, look really good in my shirt…”

You can tell that your face is warm, but his confession emboldens you to take a small step toward him, gazing up at his face through your eyelashes. He meets you in the middle, placing his hands gently on your waist as he leans down and brings his lips to meet yours.

You gasp into the kiss, letting every emotion wash over you. His hands are warm as they wrap around you, bringing you close. You rest your hands on his shoulders, letting them wander over the expanse of his chest. 

He deepens the kiss, and your hands drift up into his hair. You almost moan at how soft it is. Johnny must know you’re holding back, moving his mouth to kiss down your neck as his hands wander under your shirt to caress your torso. You moan when he starts sucking on the tender skin beneath your ear. 

He groans when he hears you let out the sound, lifting you up and setting you on the counter in a rush. He steps between your legs, as your lips meet again, his mouth swallowing your sounds as you try to get closer by wrapping your legs around him.

His hands are close to fondling with your bra under his shirt you’re wearing, and you can feel the bulge in his pants as you let yourself grind against him.

“Johnny…” you mumble between kisses, clinging to him like he’s your lifeline. The mumble of his name spurs him on.

You break apart eventually, breathing heavily as you gaze at his swollen lips. You can’t even imagine what you must look like at the moment. 

Johnny slowly removes himself from you and steps back to adjust his jeans with a sheepish look on his face. When he looks back up at you, it’s with a smile. 

“We should probably stop here,” he suggests, remembering how you mentioned not wanting to go too far tonight. “At least for now.”

You nod, your heart beating fast at the implication of seeing more of him in the future. He combs his fingers through your hair a bit to help make you more presentable, before reaching for your hand. 

The two of you head back downstairs, into the chaos of the party, and you find your friends dancing in the living room. They wave and let out some wolf whistles when they see you walking down the stairs hand-in-hand. 

You look back at Johnny, and he grins at your friends’ silly behavior, watching as they call you over. 

“It’s cool, I’m gonna go check the music queue,” he says, squeezing your hand one last time before letting go, “I’ll see you in class, yeah?”

You return his smile, “Yeah.”

“And maybe at the next party, too?” he asks with a hopeful tone. 

You nod before planting a quick kiss on his lips, leaving him speechless as you turn and slip into the crowd. 

When you reach your friends, you glance back to find Johnny back to the corner where you had first approached him. It almost felt like the last hour was a hazy dream, but when he looked up, his eyes found yours immediately, lingering with a small smile on his face. 

Not a dream, at all.

༻ ✧✧✧ ༺

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Excellent Bugle episode this week, episode 4311. I’d wondered for the last couple of days why it hadn’t come out, because they’re usually recorded around Saturday and released on Mondays. This one came out on Wednesday, and as soon as I started listening to it, of course I understood why. They presumably waited a couple of extra days to record to see if more news would unfold in the Trump situation, so they wouldn’t have to talk about something that people knew nothing about.

I guess it’s also worth taking a bit of time to plan your wording instead of responding to that incident immediately after it happens. Find a way to say both “Obviously you shouldn’t assassinate people” and “We still hate that guy though”, strike the balance in a way that won’t have the Daily Mail announcing WOKE SOCIALIST COMEDIANS SUPPORT POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED MURDER AND JACK BLACK WON’T MAKE MUSIC WITH THEM ANYMORE. I think they did a pretty good job of avoiding that, though Andy might have toed the line a little when he read out a list of victims of successful assassinations who deserved to die less than Trump did. I enjoyed that list.

Anyway, I was pleased when the episode appeared in my podcast app this morning, and even more pleased when I clicked and saw the lineup. Andy Zaltzman, Tom Ballard, Chris Addison. Tom Ballard hasn’t been on The Bulge in a while so it was nice to have him back – he was there in person, as he’s doing WIPs in London right now. Which I know because I’ve been checking the London comedy venues for stuff to see while I’m there, and learned that I could see a Tom Ballard WIP if I were there just a few days earlier. But it’s all right that I’ll miss it, since I’m seeing him in Edinburgh. I think his current WIPs are less about working out the show in general, as he did have it finished, but more about translating the Australian politics-focused material to Britain for an Edinburgh run/British tour. I’m really looking forward to seeing the show.

So I was pleased to hear from Tom Ballard on The Bugle again, but I have to say, the only small downside to this fantastic episode is that Tom Ballard didn’t actually get all that much of a look-in. And that’s not due to any weaknesses in what he had, it’s because he was on with Chris Addison, and the other guests always get pushed to the side of the edit when they’re on with Chris Addison, and rightly so.

I’ve said before that Chris Addison is an amazing Bugle guest because he doesn’t do stand-up anymore. The Bugle isn’t a fully improvised podcast; Andy and the guests turn up with prepared material on topical subjects and then present it and react to each other’s stuff. But most of the time, the comedians are writing for lots of different things at once, and put down a few bullet points worth of ideas for stuff to say on The Bugle. If one of those ideas is deemed good enough to make their stand-up show, they’ll polish it up for that. The version they take to The Bugle is their rough draft.

But not Chris Addison. He doesn’t have a stand-up show to be the final version, or other areas to spread out his ideas. He’s writing multiple finished, polished stand-up monologues for each topic they discuss. He’s throwing all his gold at The Bugle, because he doesn’t have to save any for anywhere else. Andy and other Bugle guests have stopped more than once during his episodes to admire his work/admonish him for making everyone else look bad. One time when Nish Kumar did this after one of Addison’s routines, Chris Addison explained that he just comes across this way because The Bugle is the only opportunity he’s had to write new comedy material in over ten years, and he misses it and enjoys that chance. Which made me say, how many other talents are being wasted out there because Andy Zaltzman didn’t work with them in the early 2000s and put them on the Bugle 15-20 years later? How many brilliant comedians don’t write stand-up material anymore, but are just itching for a chance to do it again, if only an old friend would invite him on a podcast?

That’s what Chris Addison does normally, and this latest episode was no exception. If anything, I think he was on stronger form than usual. He had multiple monologues across the episode that were formatted like a proper, fully-formed stand-up routine. He had tags on tags, of the sort that most comedians only develop after months of WIPs where they think of one or two more words at a time. One of his monologues had a callback to something from a previous monologue. Oh my God, Chris, just fucking book some stand-up gigs again. You can still write your sitcoms and whatever else you’re doing.

So that was great, once again. But that isn’t actually the reason I wanted to write this post. The reason I’m writing this post is to call attention to this exchange, from fairly early into the episode:

Andy Zaltzman: I’d like the Republican Party to become a serious political organization again. That’s right up there with my absolute top pipe dreams, along with eternal peace; guilt-free foie gras; a functioning rail network; compulsory lanyards for all – everywhere, all the time, so we don’t have to remember anyone’s name; a ceasefire in the culture wars – and an equitable and lasting ceasefire, not just one that bumps all the problems down the road, [cough] Versailles; competent top-level administration that safeguards the future of Test cricket for at least the next 4,000 years; and having a head like an orange. Those are my top pipe dreams. Chris Addison: [laughs] That’s a very, very good – very in-joke.

That is an excerpt from Bugle episode 4311, released on July 16 but recorded on July 15, 2024. Now I would like to draw your attention to an excerpt from a questionnaire that sketch comedy duo Zaltzman and Oliver filled out about their 2004 Edinburgh Festival show, published on BBC.co.uk on July 28, 2004:

If the Edinburgh fairy could grant your wish, what would your wish for? AZ: A head like an orange. JO: A head like an orange.

Here’s the important thing about those two quotes: I have carefully combed through the entire individual and combined back catalogues of Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver, and I am pretty confident that those are the only two references ever made to having a head like an orange. This includes within the two sources – I have quoted the entire relevant passage both times, there is no context around it to explain what the hell they’re talking about. They made this joke one time in 2004, I read that questionnaire ages ago and wondered what they were talking about, and now they’d done it again, nearly exactly 20 years later. Like, within two weeks of being exactly twenty years later. And they will not tell us what they mean.

Now, it is possible that I’m just forgetting something here. The fact that Chris Addison recognized the joke in 2024, and that it apparently originated in 2004, makes me wonder if it could have been from The Department, the radio show that Andy Zaltzman, John Oliver, and Chris Addison wrote and starred in together in 2004-2006. I’ve heard every episode of that show a few times each and I don’t remember anything about a head like an orange, but it was pretty dense writing so I could have missed it.

The other possibility is that this is something from Political Animal, the stand-up night that Zaltzman and Oliver ran in London/in Edinburgh during the festival, starting 2003. They’d host it and other comedians would come on to do exclusively political stand-up material, and I know Chris Addison was one of the people who performed there a lot in the early days (Andy, you need to re-start Political Animal in 2024, just so you can make Chris Addison do a set). Some of this got recorded for BBC Radio 4 as well, and there were a lot of weird Zaltzman and Oliver sketches that appeared in the radio show in between the guests, and someone having and/or wanting a head like an orange seems like the sort of thing that could have happened in one of those sketches. I don’t remember it happening, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard that show, so it could have been in there. Even if it never appeared on the radio show, my best guess for the origin of the Orange Mystery is that it was some inside joke from their many Political Animal live shows that didn’t get recorded.

I really want to know this now. I wanted to know before, that 2004 questionnaire is one of my favourite of the weird like Zaltzman and Oliver historical relics. But I want to know even more now that it’s been referenced for only the second ever that I can remember, twenty years later, and we have confirmation that Chris Addison knows what it means. But he’s not telling. And neither is Andy.

I mean, they didn’t tell us, there. Didn’t say they’d never tell. I do pay The Bugle approximately $28/month – by far my most expensive monthly direct debit (well over twice the amount that I pay every month for any other one thing, besides, you know, rent and bills), even though I keep telling myself I need to be careful with money and should probably cancel that one because I can’t quite afford it, but I’ve taken so much free entertainment from Andy Zaltzman that it feels like the least I owe him.

The point is that because I pay this much money, I am a premium subscriber who can access their monthly show in which Andy answers questions submitted by premium subscribers. I just recently wrote a post about how I tend to be horrifically embarrassed by the thought of interacting with comedians I like, normally I’d never do this. But I’m thinking I might, in this case. It’s a reasonable question, isn’t it? Why does Andy Zaltzman want a head like an orange? I might send that in. Interacting with famous comedians does feel slightly more justified if I've paid for the privilege.

It originated way too early to be a Trump joke, no one was talking about his orange head in 2004. I keep trying to picture a head like an orange, in the hopes that that that will jog my memory of some other time when that image has been in my head, perhaps due to some other reference that I’d heard Zaltzman and Oliver make to it but had since forgotten. But every time I think of it, all I can picture is the curious orange from This Morning with Richard Not Judy, and that’s not it. I have never heard Zaltzman and/or Oliver reference Lee and/or Herring, I can’t imagine they’d start with this. My only other vague guess is maybe a joke about the colour of Andy’s hair? But why?

@lastweeksshirttonight @nyomkitten @bimwi, any of the Tumblr Buglers recognize this? Can any of you read this post and say, "How on Earth is Meerkats forgetting the very obvious [old Bugle episode in which they clearly explain their in-joke about a head like an orange, which I am somehow the only idiot who can't remember]?" Because if none of you tell me that's the case, then I'm emailing Andy Zaltzman to ask. Well, I'm emailing Producer Chris, and I'll just have to hope he puts the question to Andy.

Although I recently heard someone else get the opportunity to put just one question to a comedian, and they went with "Fuck marry kill - Rob Beckett, Ricky Gervais, Daniel Kitson", and it did make me think that is the perfect use of an opportunity to ask a comedian one question, and that should be the only question asked by any fan who's ever in such a situation again. Sorry to betray that by asking about a head like an orange instead. Andy Zaltzman and Daniel Kitson sharing a stage/radio studio has delivered some of the most awkward, social chemistry-free energy I've ever heard, so I'm sure he'd have a fun answer to that question too. He might have to let Ricky Gervais live just so he could avoid a marriage or sexual situation in which someone made him do a Marvin Gaye impression in the middle of it.

Edit: Okay, I've been informed that apparently there is an old joke about a man wishing for a head like an orange from a genie? I'd never heard it before but a guy I knew from England told me it was quite well known (and showed me a link to an American site, so apparently they had it there). I had never heard of this. Am I the only person who'd never heard of this? It hadn't occurred to me that Andy Zaltzzman would be referencing a joke he hadn't invented.

[caramelcoffeeaddict]

WIP WEDNESDAY

thank you for tagging me @forabeatofadrum! I am not using my regular banner for this post because I HAVE FINISHED WRITING BREAKING STEREOTYPES!!! I'll be posting the first chapter on Friday (because I'm still proofreading/editing). so here is the "coming soon" art that I made, followed by the summary and a small tease of the story.

Summary:

Blaine Anderson is the frontman for the hottest new band around, Breaking Stereotypes. Kurt Hummel is a fashion columnist at Vogue, who is also working on getting his Masters Degree in Fashion Design at Parsons. When Blaine finds Kurt’s portfolio in the back of a taxi, he is captivated by all the incredible designs in it, and takes it upon himself to return it, hoping to commission a few of the designs from him. During their first meeting, Blaine finds out that Kurt isn’t a fan of Breaking Stereotypes, nor does he have any clue who Blaine actually is.

WIP Wednesday Tease:

I’ll need to take your measurements before I go shopping for materials. Unfortunately, I don’t have an available office to use at the moment, but I should be able to reserve a workroom at school that we can use for that. So, I think we should set up a meeting for later in the week. In addition to taking your measurements, we would be able to discuss any alterations you might want or need on the designs as well. And I’ll be able to show you some fabric samples, so you can get a better idea about colors and textures.” “That sounds great!” Blaine replied. He took out his phone to check his calendar. “It looks like my next day off isn’t until Monday. Does that work for you?” Kurt appeared to mentally review his schedule before nodding. “I can do 3:30 pm. Is that okay?” Blaine smiled and added his meeting with Kurt to his calendar. “Perfect. Where should I meet you?” “How about you meet me outside of Parsons? The 5th Ave entrance? Then I can just show you into the workroom from there?” he checked. “That works for me,” Blaine told him. He was about to strike up a casual conversation when suddenly Kurt groaned in annoyance. “Ugh! Not this song again!” he whined. Blaine looked at Kurt in confusion, causing Kurt to point up to the speakers in the ceiling that were pumping soft music throughout the deli. He paused to listen closer to hear which song Kurt was referring to. What he heard was his own voice singing his band’s newest single, ‘Liar, Liar’, back at him. He hesitated before cautiously asking, “Not a fan of Breaking Stereotypes I take it?”

[howldean]

1, 3, 4, 11, 16 for the fandom asks

1. list 3 positive things about your current fandom — this is all on supernatural because of course it is. a) there’s so many people with niche skills, like we have incredible levels of meta, incredible artists and storytellers, and a literal jarchaeologist. what the hell this is genuinely incredible b) oh buddy it’s only monday. brother it’s ten am on a tuesday yesterday was tuesday but today is tuesday too. sparkle on its werewolf transgenderism wednesday. cas died on a thursday it was sunny. fingers in my mouth fitzgerald fuck of desitel friday. i always know the day of the week c) there are so many freaks i get to call my friends and i think it’s wonderful. everyone from point a can also be your friend. your buddy who gives you music recs and asks how you’re doing after a hard day or sends you a gift to celebrate recovering from surgery and coexists with you and sends you asks and treats you with kindness and love. for the hell of it. like damn

3. a character that fandom has helped you appreciate — ohhhhh rufus absolutely. i loved bobby and rufus’ dynamics from the start but input from others has helped me fall for so many of the side characters on a deeper level like. i probably wouldn’t have even become so much of a garthboy or a jimmyfucker if i didn’t have people that were right there with me in the derangement soup

4. say something nice about a ship you don't ship — i think sastiel girlies have so much fun amidst all the horrors and i love recreationally receiving sastiel posts even if i don’t live the lifestyle (said in the tone of a moderately conservative uncle trying to his best about the gays) the posts i see are like a hearty stew.

11. if you're a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making — i’m really proud of a wip i’ve been outlining this week. and my first blip into letting myself write in my preferred style with oh, baby.

16. a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate — this one’s a toughie because i forget literally everything ever. i don’t think watching dog dean afternoon counts as a “tiny” detail because it’s an entire episode but so many people skip it and it fundamentally reshapes dean’s relationship with dogs. so instead i’ll say that dean got a ged!!!!! he didn’t need to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but he did!! just for himself

SEND ME FANDOM ASKS‼️

[deiliamedlini]

WIP Wednesday

This is a piece of a long oneshot I was working on that I actually just went back to so I could change the era this took place in to use for something else! So this is is the modern meeting of small-town Link and big-city-moving-to-small-town-for-work Zelda. 

I might still go back to this one specifically, especially since most of this info can’t transfer to the earlier era I’m changing it to. I also haven’t edited it, since I’m just in the process of hijacking bits and pieces, so please excuse my dear Aunt Sally. No, wait... that’s not writing... 

~~~~

“I just can’t believe they sent me here,” Zelda said into her phone. It was tucked between her cheek and her shoulder as she drove down a dirt road. On one side, there was farmland: an extensive few acres of it, from what she could tell. On her other side, trees.

Zelda loved trees. She did! They were a big part of her job, and she had nothing against them. But goddess above, she’d never seen so many trees in her life. Glancing at the clock, she realized that she’d been surrounded by trees for nearly an hour now, overwhelmed by the sight.

A city girl through and through, her entire life had been spent in the bustle of Castle Town: the largest, busiest, most innovative and thriving city in all of Hyrule. She’d gone to the best schools there, and worked at an exclusive corporation.

But they needed her to go somewhere else.

For the sake of the research, she reminded herself as she tried to focus on the phone and not all the trees. Or the mountains that replaced skyscrapers and castles. Or the farms that replaced parks and streets.

On the other end of the receiver were two voices. One was Midna, Zelda’s best friend. The other was Tetra, her older sister. The three of them together were incredibly close, and Midna had even offered to uproot her own life to join Zelda on this rural adventure. But Zelda had told her to hold down the fort; this move wasn’t permanent, and she’d be joining Midna back in their three-bedroom apartment that they all had shared in the heart of Castle Town.

“Are you almost there?” Midna asked, loudly typing something into her computer.

“She’s got to be,” Tetra muttered.

“I think I am.” Zelda looked around, but there were only… more trees. Shocker. “If the moving truck could find this place, then so can I.”

“Does she start work tomorrow?” Tetra asked, clearly directed at Midna.

“No,” Zelda answered for her. “I start Monday. They’re going to send me all the information ‘once I get settled.’”

“At least you know how much they value you,” Midna tried, but it was clearly a forced compliment and a poor attempt to make Zelda feel any better about taking this position. But really, when her boss asked her to take on a special assignment, one that paid double her old salary, she couldn’t resist, no matter how uprooted her life became.

“I know, but it’s—”

Suddenly, there was more than just trees.

A goat stepped into the road, much faster than Zelda ever thought goat could move. She dropped the phone, let out a high-pitched noise of absolute panic, and swerved around the goat. But she swerved off the dirt path, heard a thud, felt the car shake, and immediately slammed the breaks, rearing forward into the steering wheel.

“Sweet Goddess Hylia and all things holy!” she hissed, breathing heavily. Her chest hurt where she’d bounced into the wheel, but it hadn’t nearly been hard enough to cause the airbags to deploy.

Quickly putting the car in park, she shakily unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped outside, shaking out her hands and letting out some nerves before reaching into the car to grab the fallen phone.

“I’m okay,” she said quickly, brushing her hair from her face. “I almost hit a goat.”

“Goddess!” they both breathed. “We thought you were dead! My heart, Zelda!”

“I know, I’m sorry! Look, I hit something. I don’t see any dead animals in the road, but I’m going to hang up so I can look. I’ll call you later.”

The three of them were notorious for never saying ‘goodbye’ on the phone. Really, they didn’t do it in real life either. Even when Zelda left, the last thing Tetra had said was ‘I’ll come up to visit  real soon’, and Midna had said, ‘find me a hottie, or some other excuse to move up there with you.’

So, Zelda hung up with just a promise to call them back, and she hurried down the road to where she’d heard the thud.

It didn’t take much investigating to figure out what had happened: there was a broken fence, splintered and thrown wildly around the area after her apparent impact with it, and a frayed rope on the ground. And a sign that said “fence broken”. Helpful.

Zelda glanced back at the goat, unmoved by anything that had just occurred. It was meandering through the road, boredly exploring an area that it didn’t seem interested in. Perhaps the trees felt familiar to it.

Zelda groaned and took a picture of the fence before trying to get the internet on her phone so she could look up the local police number to report that she’d damaged property.

No internet connection.

“Great,” she muttered, turning to take a picture of the goat before it could move. Then, she headed back to her car, just to make sure there was no innocent animal underneath. She flipped the flashlight on and ducked down.

Zelda groaned, but not because there was a dead animal. No, it wasn’t an animal that was dead; it was her tire. There was a giant piece of the broken fence impaled into the rubber, and thanks to her rolling a few feet away, it was in there good.

“Of course. Of course!” Zelda yelled into the abyss, not even earning a curious glance from the goat.

Grabbing her phone, she was blinded by the light she’d left on and turned it around so she could look up the tow company immediately but was met by the same message. No internet connection.

Rolling her eyes, she scrolled to Midna’s name and pressed call.

Silence. Not even ringing.

Zelda checked the corner of the screen, struck first by her red battery life, and second by the device bars desperately looking for a connection.

“I was just talking to them!” she yelled at the phone, as if it cared that she’d had service moments ago. It gave her the urge to throw the phone, but she wasn’t that angry yet.

Instead, she turned her camera on, took a picture of her impaled tire in case the insurance company would need it, and then took several pictures of the goat just for fun, praying that it didn’t charge at her or whatever goats did.

She continued observing the goat without anything else to do until a car headed down the road. She stood and began to wave her arms wildly, but the car drove right past her.

“Jerk,” she muttered, pushing her hair back and returning to sit. But it wasn’t long until a pickup truck slowed down before she could even get back out of the car. She breathed a sigh of relief when they stopped and rolled down the window.

“Everything alright, Miss?”

“Not really,” she sighed, looking at her car sympathetically. She gestured to her tire.

“Got a spare? I got a jack if you need it.”

His voice was accented with the local dialect, which made her feel a little at ease. At least this was someone who’s likely be familiar with the area and could tell her how far away she was.

She had to admit, she’d spoken to one of her coworkers on the phone and had also become enamored with her accent, though it wasn’t from around here either. Zelda had a feeling she was just a sucker for anything that wasn’t the harsh poshness of the Castle Town accent, where every letter pronounced, every syllable attempting to be heard. It was a hard accent, and a cold one. The ones around here was warm and inviting.

Of course, it would make her stick out anytime she opened her mouth, which she didn’t really want.

Castle Town was posh, for sure. A town for the rich and the well-off, or those in school or at work. So Zelda knew a thing or two about stranger danger, and the deeply rooted nerves she felt when she saw the man unbuckle his seatbelt from her peripheral vision bubbled up. She had an escape route planned: toward the broken fence. She wasn’t being kidnapped on her first day in town. But he didn’t get out. He just leaned across the seat to the open window.

Finally, she looked at him, and her breath caught. Well, he certainty matched his voice. Something tired and alert all at once. His blonde hair was long and tied back into a ponytail, falling out in the front so his bangs messily framed his face, bringing her attention to his piercing blue eyes.

Oh yeah, this was the kind of guy they warned you about in Castle Town. Too pretty for their own good. She’d have talked to him in a crowded bar for sure. But out here…?

She glanced back at her car, breaking her distracted trance, trying to remember what he’d asked. “Oh, uh, no. I took everything out of the car to fit my things. I figured I’d take my chances for not getting a flat, but surprise, surprise, a goat wants me dead.”

“Where you going? I can give you a lift if you want. You can get Daruk out here tomorrow morning to tow it wherever you need to go.”

“Oh,” she breathed. Don’t get into a car with someone you just met unless someone knows who they are or where you’re going. “Yeah, I was actually just going to ask if I could borrow your phone? Mine isn’t getting service. I can just call my tow company that I’m enrolled with.”

He nodded and reached across his passenger seat before handing her a phone out the window. She half expected it to be something old and rustic, like this whole place, but it was new and modern and almost exactly like hers. She’d just assumed the small town didn’t have the newest phones. What a stupid assumption.

“Mind if I just look up their number first?” she asked before randomly clicking around on a strange man’s phone.

“Go for it.”

She did and listened to all the automated options. The man was bobbing his head to some music she couldn’t hear. A car came down the road, stopping and honking, despite the fact that they could clearly go around him.

The man rolled his eyes and backed into the breakdown lane behind Zelda’s car, though she was thankful he still didn’t get out

It was only when Zelda’s eyes widened in either shock or horror at whatever she’d heard over the phone that he leaned his head back out the window curiously.

She walked up to him and handed the phone back. “Thanks.”

“So?”

“Three hours to get out here.” Zelda’s misery was palpable.

“Where are you going, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Some little village called Ordon”

He smirked and leaned back in his seat. “I’m headed there as well. Want a ride? We can get Daruk out here sooner to just tow your car in if he knows he’ll just be headed back into town. It’s not far.”

“Oh, I don’t know… not that I don’t appreciate it, but I don’t know you.”

He reached his hand out the window. “Link. I live in Ordon. Work too. Nice to meet you”

“Zelda,” she said, taking his hand.

“Here,” he said, pulling out his wallet and handing her a business card. “So you don’t think I’m lying. But I do have to get to work at some point, so if you want that ride…”

“I just don’t want you to be a kidnapping murderer and kill me, you know?”

He grinned, suppressing a chuckle.

Zelda crossed her arms. “Don’t laugh at my potential murder.”

Gesturing to his phone still in her hand. “You can keep that with you the whole ride so you can call the cops on me if you think I’m kidnapping you.”

Toying with the phone, she took another look at her car. “Okay. Just let me grab my bag.”

[clarionglass]

tagged by @dheiress to post the first line of my last 20 fics (thank you! <3)

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 other authors!

aight my lads here we go, there’s going to be a few unpublished wips and other piece of dubious writing in here bc i doubt i have 20 stories but anyway, here we go (this is very long! press j to skip or just get that dash scrollin bc this might take a while :// ) in very rough chronological order going backwards, starting with the published work:

1. so i ran to the river (tma grifters au, unpublished yet but will be soon!): The sunlight feels different on a face fresh out of prison, and it feels even better to Jonathan Sims now that he’s truly home.

2. crowned by an overture bold and beyond (tma pretentious college au, based loosely on the secret history):  It was a cool, rainy day in late March when I first approached the Magnus Institute--one of those days that served as a reminder that the London spring, that fragile creature, was still all too vulnerable to the occasional strike from the claws of winter.

3. we should ride this wave to shore (tma chatfic where everything is beautiful and nothing hurts): Friday, 3:14 P.M. “archives research & statement envestigation” Timothy Stoker renamed the group “drinks drinks drinks” Timothy Stoker changed Sasha James’s nickname to saucy sash Timothy Stoker changed Martin Blackwood’s nickname to martini kart Timothy Stoker changed his nickname to stonked stonked: so how bout it lads saucy sash: oh god.

4. i am the maker of rules (dealing with fools) (tma chatfic, an elias-and-peter-focused accompaniment to wsrtwts): Monday, 7:39 P.M. Elias Bouchard to Peter Lukas Elias Bouchard: Peter, I need to talk to you. Elias Bouchard: I’ve had the most infuriating day at work.

5. An Optimistic Tragedy (good omens orchestra au that i swear to god i’ll finish one day): Three years ago Eve shifted in her chair, her mind clearly on things other than Milhaud and the music in front of her.

6. The Spaces Between the Stars (the Beast of a dw fic that i can’t even begin to describe; a mate and i have been working on this since 2015 and it’s a sprawling mass of writing that encompasses Many google docs--what’s on ao3 atm is a very small percentage of it,,,,): The Doctor clutched the TARDIS railing as if somehow, it could take the pain away.

7. Carol of the Bells (a chrismas chatfic companion to aot! i’ve always been a sucker for a chatfic but oof looking back on this one my formatting style sure has changed): [Friday December 13, 1:31am] Anthony Crowley to Angelface: u up? ;)

8. An Exploration into The Nature of Human Beings, sub. Homo Sapiens: A Research Paper by Milton Jones (british comedy rpf. this is my oldest piece on ao3 and it shows, but there’s a special place in my heart for this dorky lil fic about an alien researcher making a place for himself in british comedy. fun fact! i actually added the final three sentences to this a couple of days ago, and will post it when i do my next fic update): <<I knew you’d be down here, as per usual. Do you never stop working?>>

and now for the stuff that i like but hasn’t yet/will never/one day, if i get my act together, might be posted to ao3... please ask me about these bc i love them, even though i’ll probably never post them :)

9. untitled mitchell spy comedy (a show that @monimolimnion​ and i want to pitch to the bbc in which david mitchell and victoria coren mitchell are married spies who work for MI5 and MI6 respectively, and most of britcom pops up in one place or another. it’s nothing more than a Lot of planning and a few snippets, but i love returning to this doc): [David is sitting at his desk, shaking his head at an open file.] David: They’re taking the piss. That’s what they’re doing, they’re taking the piss.

10. In the Demonic Style (a good omens au of @teashoesandhair’s glorious smooching contest piece, which is the first piece of fiction writing in the reblog chain. i’ve promised a chapter 2 to this, which i’m halfway through, and feel incredibly guilty for not finishing. still, my quarter-year’s resolution is to finish something old whenever i post something new, so maybe it’ll get done soon!): “It’s the end of the world” was not a good statement with which to start one’s morning in any circumstances, but the angel Bryndael was in the middle of cataloguing his newest shipment of tea samples when said statement reached his ears, and he didn’t much appreciate being disturbed.

11. magpie (good omens canon-mostly-compliant fic based around the song magpie by the unthanks/the magpie folk song/nursery rhyme): Wednesday (approximately 11 years before the end of the world) From a bird’s-eye view, St James’s Park was beautiful at this time of year.

12. untitled ficlet for tales of dwrwedd (a present for my writing buddy! the link is to her fic, i just wrote a bit of her two witcherverse ocs being soft as hell): The two women seated by the hearth didn't look old, either of them. But there was something about the pair--in their movements, or their mannerisms--that suggested an age far beyond what their unlined faces would suggest.

13: Tempo d’Attacco (an original bit of Light Crime a la midsomer murders, set in a university music department that is naturally a thinly-veiled copy of my own, hence why it will never ever be posted anywhere. i wrote this for my supervisor at the end of honours (her character is the sleuth) :P ) Dr Marisa Tan didn’t exactly start her morning well, on the day that everything seemed to upend itself.

patterns...... i’m not seeing that many, tbh? idk if i could call this in media res, but there’s certainly a good bit of plot starting without heaps of setup. 

my favourite? hmmmmmm i’d say my favourites would be crowned by an overture bold and beyond, and in the demonic style. i gotta say, going back to revisit a lot of my older writing has been nice! time and distance have been v kind :)

i’m hella bad at tagging things so if you see this and want to share your own writing please go ahead! i’m very shy when it comes to Fandom Interaction (tm) so i don’t feel comfortable launching myself into people’s notes (i loved this tho! i just need other people to make the first move lol), however i will give a specific shoutout to @monimolimnion whose writing i adore and who needs to do this!

[hwas-housewife]

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, fortnight, March, April, October, ancient, and minutes

hello lovely! sorry for responding so late :,) I had a wild night of sleep but I’m awake now

monday: do you struggle with the ‘boring’ parts of writing?

Not exactly. I love writing mundane things and adding lots of descriptions to the setting. I just always worry that I’m going to turn into one of those writers who spend 5 pages describing the setting for one sentence of dialogue. But if I need to connect two plot points and don’t know how to do it, then I struggle.

wednesday: name a fic which you have posted which you think is underrated?

This took,,,way too long to figure out. The fics I’m most proud of have about 50-60 notes which makes me feel satisfied enough as a small blog. However, there are like one or two I expected a couple more notes just because I thought it was better than some of my other works. But I’m not gonna name them because I don’t feel the need to :)

friday: most self-indulgent fic you have ever posted?

Ghost of You. It was a songfic that is angsty and from the guys’ point of view. Totally self-indulgent and most of the people that I know didn’t even read it but it got a surprising amount of notes.

fortnight: what wip do you plan on posting next, if at all?

Most likely one from the ask game. I’ve been motivated to write this one I have for Jeonghan so hopefully, I’ll have that out soon.

march: do you listen to music whilst writing?

YES. There are very few moments in my life where I am not listening to music. I also tend to pick a playlist that reflects the mood I am going for for the fic. I have a ton of playlists that reflect a different range of emotions so they help a lot.

april: have you ever written and/or posted a crackfic?

Yes. However, I don’t actually think it’s that crackfic and I’ve come to hate it over time. But it’s called Perfect U, and is the crack version of my other fic Support Squad. It also doesn’t help that not that many people understand the lyrics I reference since they’re in Korean. I do want to eventually write a much better crackfic in the future.

october: name the darkest or angstiest fic you have written and/or posted?

Ghost of You (again). I wrote it when I was going through it with sad emotion and really needed to write but couldn’t write any poetry. So I was listening to the song it was inspired by and decided to write it to feel better. 

ancient: the first fic you ever posted online?

Oh goodness. I can’t even find it anymore (because I’m pretty sure I deleted it). But it was related to Adventure Time and it was like 3k words. Also, it wasn’t on Tumblr.

minutes: how long does it normally take you to complete a fic?

It will either take me a day or 3 months. I really don’t appear to have an in-between for writing and I hate it. I wish I could write more often than what I do. 

[littlemarvelfics]

HELLO BEAUTIFUL TIS @pies-wands-and-more in ma main blog (it inactive, so boring, i know LOL) I HAVE SOME OF THOSE FANFIC QUESTIONS FOR YOU!!! I'd say all of them but I'm sure you wanted specifics LOL so: Monday, Wednesday, March, September, Tomorrow, and then i want you to pick one you wanna answer :D (ps i love you :D)

Omg hi I love you. Also I just followed you on insta. Weird? Maybe. But that’s just super on brand for me. Here are some answers boo!

monday: do you struggle with the ‘boring’ parts of writing?Not really! The thing I struggle with when I’m writing is second guessing myself. I’ll write something, love it and then 20 minutes later I’ll call it trash.

wednesday: name a fic which you have posted which you think is underrated?After a cruise through my masterlist, Imma pick I Almost Do. I loved it when I wrote it and it’s still something I’m not mad at. It’s inspired by one of my top five favorite songs though so that might have something to do with it.

march: do you listen to music whilst writing? A L W A Y S. My brain tends to run away from me and I find listening to music helps me slow down a bit. I have playlists that fit the vibe of what I’m writing but if I’m too frazzled I listen to acoustic piano music!

tomorrow: favourite ways to write fluff?Ugh. I love writing fluff. I’m gonna answer this two ways actually. My best friend always says that I get lost in my own narrative and that’s what happens when I write fluff. I start with a sentence or an idea and the rest tends to fall into place (or I sit at my computer and cry until it does). If we’re getting into like… where or the mood I’m in when I write fluff: Fluff comes to me best when I’m not stressed about much. Those are the times I don’t really have to force it, it just happens.

And the one I’m gonna answer is: fortnight: what wip do you plan on posting next, if at all?

Next up is the final three parts to Whatever Comes Next. I’ll probably post those once a week. My goal is to finish writing my mob!bucky x original character by the end of July and then start posting it in August. I’m so proud of it so far and I hope you guys will give it a chance.

Thank you for the questions darling and I hope I did them justice!

[thisfairytalegonebad]

how about you do all the questions too :)

Honestly every time I reblog something like this it’s just the two of us asking each other to do it and nobody even fucking reads my answers but I am very desperate to talk about my own fics and stuff so thank you *blows kiss*

monday: do you struggle with the ‘boring’ parts of writing?I mean, I guess so, I’ve never written a fic that required boring parts before since it’s all just oneshots, but now that I’m trying to make my NaNo writing into a story I’ll have to do that and I still don’t know how so I guess I do struggle with the boring parts (also editing qualifies as boring and I HATE editing)

tuesday: name a fic you have posted which you think is overrated?Celebrity Crush, like c’mon folks that was one of my first fics, and like my third fic in English, don’t you think you could read the newer stuff where I’ve improved? Pls?

wednesday: name a fic which you have posted which you think is underrated?Point of No Return, a FFXV fic that deals with the aftermath of chapter 9 in the game, it got a handful of comments but I feel like it’s one of my better works so I wish more people read it. 

thursday: have you ever written a high fantasy concept?No, and if I weren’t so terrified of writing big stuff I’d totally try it. Maybe someday, though

friday: most self-indulgent fic you have ever posted?In Sickness and in Health, a Free! OT5 sickfic which is like all of my guilty pleasures combined. I’m not even mad about the lack of feedback, I know it’s quite niche but I’m just very much into Style Five OT5. And sickfics of course but that is hardly a secret at this point. 

saturday: what gets you excited whilst writing?When the words flow, I love that. Also when I get to hurt a character because that makes the words flow. 

sunday: how frequently do you take requests or prompts, if at all?I don’t, really. I did it once briefly and got about two requests I think, and if anyone asked me to write something about a fandom I’m in and a character I’m interested in, I might consider writing it, but I’m both very specific about what catches my eye (basically just my favourite of each fandom I’m in) and very scared of disappointing the person who requested something...

fortnight: what wip do you plan on posting next, if at all?Some nice Keith & Krolia bonding fluff god bless

january: what was the first fic you posted this year?Il Treno dei Desideri, a RinRei fic :D I’m still proud of that one and I LOVED writing RinRei, I should really write them more often!!

february: have you ever written and/or a holiday-centric fic?Yeah, the very first English fic I wrote and posted (in the OP fandom) was for the Zosan Christmas Exchange on Tumblr. 

march: do you listen to music whilst writing? I usually don’t, and if I do it needs to be something without lyrics because I can’t focus otherwise. I usually have my earphones on without anything playing tho because it drowns out the sounds around me (like when I’m upstairs and the tv downstairs is on) and I can hear my own breathing and idk that’s calming and makes it easier to focus, dunno why

april: have you ever written and/or posted a crackfic?Nah

may: a fic you have regretted posting?Hm, maybe the ones I wrote first in German, I was 14 at the time and I will never in my life go back to reread them, but they’re still online because I received some sweet comments on them (though one of these days I might just screenshot or copy those and take the fics down anyway idk)

june: have you ever written and/or posted a marriage fic?No, the only thing related to marriage I still wanna write is a RinRei arranged marriage AU but who knows when I’ll finally get off my ass and write it. Maybe during NaNo next year lmao

july: what’s the hottest fic you have written and/or posted if you write smut at all?I don’t write smut haha

august: are any of your fics associated with certain genres/artists/songs/etc? Yes! Several actually, Here in the Darkness, We’re All the Same, that one’s inspired by one of my favourite singer, Rea Garvey’s, song DarknessAlso, Il Treno dei Desideri (linked a few questions above), I took the title from Azzurro by Adriano Celentano but the fic doesn’t otherwise have anything to do with the song. Then, there’s why do you build walls, when you always break them? that was inspired by that very line from Sunrise Avenue’s Question Marks.And I’ve got several others that have the title taken from a song lyric but they don’t really have any connection to the songs. 

september: share a comment or review which still warms your heart?So many, really, I can’t choose just one!

october: name the darkest or angstiest fic you have written and/or posted?Mh, out of those I’ve posted I’d probably say Point of No Return (linked somewhere above), but there’s some scenes in the NaNo fic I haven’t finished or posted yet where I made myself sad by writing about child neglect

november: do you have any rituals or requirements for getting in the mood for writing?Procrastinate until it is 1. past midnight and 2. a day when I have to get up early in the morning

december: have you ever gifted a fic to someone?Yep, only you though ^^

recent: the most recent fic you have posted online?Here in the Darkness, We’re All the Same (linked somewhere)

ancient: the first fic you ever posted online?The very first one was a Glee fic in German, on the German fanfiction website, and thankfully doesn’t exist anymore

seconds: shortest completed fic?he can’t, a lil piece about MCU Peter Parker that barely deserves to be called a fic, it’s not even 400 words long

minutes: how long does it normally take you to complete a fic?That depends, I can write oneshots in one go which is what I do most of the time (That means 3k words in one sitting at most, anything more takes more than one day)

hours: longest wip or completed fic?My NaNo fic! It’s 50k now but if I don’t delete anything it’ll be even longer because I need ‘filler’ scenes to connect the scenes I’ve already written (I am so very proud of this one)

tomorrow: favourite ways to write fluff?I don’t quite understand the question but I’m all about platonic relationships so platonic it is, also since I’m a sucker for all things illness and injury I also love caretaking fluff holy shityesterday: favourite way to write angst?In-ju-ries! *bangs pots and pans*today: have you made any progress in any wips today?Not yet but I’m going to!! I hope to finish the Keith & Krolia fic today

calendar: do you have a schedule for posting?Bitch I don’t even have a schedule for writing, writing happens like twice a year so no

forever: do you balance fic writing with original concept stuff?Nah I don’t care for original stuff, I really just wanna write about my favourite charas all day long. I don’t want to go through the trouble of creating a character I’m attached to when there are some ready made already there

[eirian-houpe]

Tad Late Tuesday (aka The Monday Menu).

I was so busy writing and enjoying some July 4th downtime that I didn’t post the Monday Menu yesterday, so here it is today.

Here’s the plan for the rest of this week (and an explanation of each thing for those that are new to my Tumblr).

Tuesday - TMI Tuesday. - Ask me… go on, ask anything.  Ask me, ask my characters - we’ll all answer. Nothing is off limits or too personal.

Wednesday - WIP Wednesday - Current state of my works in progress. So many!

Thursday - Three Things Thursday - any fic of mine is fair game. Doesn’t have to be Rumbelle, I have Rushbelle, a bunch of crossovers, some shows people might no know, some ST: DSC, some SGA and some Tolkien too… ask three things, I dare ya!

Friday - Final Line Friday. - Assuming I manage to write anything, I will post a word cloud, and the last line that I have written right before I post this.

Saturday - Saturday Secret - another one of those where you can ask about any fic, and I’ll tell (or show) you a secret. Feel free to follow up with conversation or guesses.  I will tell you if you get something right.

Sunday - Seven Sentence Sunday. - yeah, I have to write something to be able to post this.

Writing this week -  Laer o Faen, chapter 26, and Disparate Pathways - chapter 42

As always my inbox is open for thoughts, questions, asks… I don’t restrict people to any particular day of the week, and I - like most fic authors - love to discuss things to do with fics and OUAT.

I just want to add a shout out to those readers who have left me Kudos these last several days.  It has not gone un-noticed. Thank you all from the bottom of heart.

Talk to me, peeps! My inbox is lonely, and I’m Runnin’ on Faith. (I’ve had this challenge up for weeks not - earn brownie points by identifying the musical reference, but there were no takers so here is THE ANSWER).

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

deaf/HoH or blind sterek?

I see you, Nonny, sneaking multiple asks into one  :P  I do like these types of fics tho.  :P

Also:

anonymous said: Hii! Do you know any sterek fics where one of them or both are deaf, blind, or can’t speak? If you could put a mix of them in there that would be great (: thank you so much your amazing !         

This list fills your ask too, but also check out our mute!Stiles tag for those fics (cause this post is already kinda crazy long, lol).

Enjoy the fics!  -Emmy

First up:  Deaf

(Ooooooh…he gives me Derek vibes :D )

Deaf!Derek

You Don’t Have to Hear Your Heartbeat to Feel It by redhoodedwolf

(1,186 I General I Complete)  *sterek, college au, TA!derek, college student!stiles

It took Stiles longer than he’d like to admit for him to discover his TA for Mythological Studies was deaf.

Little Gestures by Stereksale7

(1,976 I Teen I Complete)  *sterek, driver!derek

Derek is a deaf Uber driver.

He’s hardly thanked by his passengers, and when he is, it’s seldom genuine.

In comes Stiles Stilinski, who changes it all.

Give Me a Sign by WhichWolfWins

(2,215 I Explicit I Complete)   *sterek, loss of virginity

Stiles decides to learn sign language so he can communicate better with Derek and he ends up using it to communicate his feelings for him.

Laughter is the Best Medicine by literaryoblivion

(4,432 I Teen I Complete)  *sterek, human au, doctor!stiles

He hasn’t always been deaf.

Although, sometimes, he wishes he was. Mainly because he knows what he’s missing. He remembers what the rustle of the wind in the trees sounds like, remembers what kids playing in the playground sounded like, what laughter sounded like.

He misses it. A lot.

Speak to Me by Ember

(9,168 I Teen I Complete)

Derek became deaf from the fire that took his family long ago, and has refused to speak since. But when he is forced to speak in the court case of the woman who betrayed him long ago, he begrudgingly accepts the help of a newly graduated speech pathologist. Stiles, however, is about to teach a whole lot more.

Bones Straining Under the Weight by weathervaanes

(15,645 I Explicit I Complete)  *sterek, au, food blogger!derek

One of Stiles’ favorite things about life is Derek Hale’s food blog. He never expects to meet the man in person.

~

“Derek,” he says again, and the name feels very strange on his tongue. “You don’t mean Derek Hale.”

His professor’s eyebrows reach up, eyes widening. “You read his blog?”

“Uh. Worship. Would be a better more descriptive word. That is Derek Hale?”

Jimmy chuckles. “Good-looking guy, huh?”

“You mean to tell me the Food Network hasn’t snatched him up to dethrone everyone else from daytime TV.”

Jimmy smiles a small private smile. “I don’t think TV is his medium.”

Stiles raises an eyebrow. “Shy?”

The man laughs heartily at that. “No, I wouldn’t say that. He just has particular forms of expression, like eyebrows and chili powder.”

Counting to Infinity by artenon

(15,763 I Teen I Complete)  *sterek

When Derek goes deaf, he finds himself going to Stiles for help. Stiles does.

Want You To Shut Up (Even Though I Cannot Hear You) by ChairmanChurch

(19,487 I Mature I Complete)  *sterek, college au, roommates, alive hale family

“Wait, wait,” Scott scrutinized him suspiciously, “is all of this about the killer thing or just that you want to ogle at your roommate’s body?”

“No way, dude. I have my standards. Not the guy with eery green grey eyes, perfectly trimmed stubble and stupid bunny teeth.”

(Or the one in which Derek is deaf and Stiles doesn’t stop talking, and Isaac’s finally being helpful)

Deaf!Stiles

The Music Of your Body by GameCake

(2,389 I Teen I Complete)  *sterek, dancer!stiles

Derek inspected the paper with curiosity. It was a poster that seemed to be advertising a dancing event. There was a dancer in the middle, dressed in ballet clothes, body toned and hard, but the movement that was captured screamed smooth and melodic even from the picture.

I don’t understand. He signed with a frown.

It’s an invitation. I am one of the dancers in the group and I would like it if you came. Stiles replied nervously.

Hush by gryvon

(5,101 I General I Complete)  *scott/stiles, alive hale family

Scott becomes infatuated with Derek’s friend Stiles.

Heartbeats by lizleminem

(5,441 I Mature I Complete)  *scott/stiles

When they’re sixteen they steal some of Stiles’ dad’s alcohol. They’re a little tipsy when Stiles starts whining about how he’s still never kissed anyone. He makes a face and signs, “I’m sixteen, Scott. This is ridiculous. I’m gonna wither up and die before I ever kiss anyone.” His signing is a little loose and sloppy from the alcohol, and when he finishes he collapses backward on the bed, sighing like the world is crumbling around him.

Scott leans over him, rolls his eyes, and signs, “I’ll kiss you if it means you’ll shut up about it.”

Savagely Wicked by KrAuEd

(6,241 I Mature I Complete)   *sterek, model!stiles, nerd!derek, alive hale family

Stiles Stilinski, also known as the most famous model any underwear company has. He’s on billboards, magazines, covers of packaging. Anything and all. Most people say he’s popular just because he’s gay, others say it’s because he’s hot, or because he’s deaf. His life is busy and he works a lot, but it all changes when he meets Derek, a local man who treats him like a normal person.

(Previously known as ‘Really? That’s how you want to play?’)

Communication (And Lack Thereof) by impalagirl, wilddragonflying

(7,761 I Mature I Complete)  *sterek, proposals, weddings

Sheriff Stilinski has been waiting for this day for a long time. As he watches his visitor walking up the path, he thinks about everything that’s happened in the past year and his fingers twitch for his gun. But he can’t do that; he can’t shoot this man, as much as he might like to sometimes. Maybe he can go one worse, though.

Wild Tonic by officerstilinskihale

(11,010 I Mature I Complete)  *sterek

Stiles nodded and smiled again, his teeth flashing brightly and he signed something again, before looking frustrated with himself.

“You’re welcome,” Derek told him, feeling a wave of relief when Stiles’ face brightened. That would’ve been awkward if Stiles hadn’t been trying to say thank you.

“I had a really good time, so yeah. I’m glad you came with me,” he said, feeling his face grow hot. Derek wasn’t usually like this. He wasn’t confident. Sure, he had the looks and he could flirt shamelessly when he got hit on, but he always got shy around the people he genuinely liked, not that there was too many of those.

But Stiles didn’t let him dwell on that. He gripped Derek’s arm, grinned cheekily and pointed at himself before lifting two fingers. It took a while for Derek to get it but when he did, he couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across his face.

Me too.

And the Rest Was Silence by Reaping

(13,417 I Explicit I Complete)

April 16th: Noise

“Still can’t hear, go away.” He forms the words carefully, not sure how loud they are, but sure the wolves will get it.

Passing Notes to Say I Love You by AceLotti

(18,618 I Mature I Complete)  *sterek, college au

Love is Deaf. You can’t just tell someone you love them. You have to show them.

Silent by Handsofred

(28,313 I General I Complete)   *sterek, mates, kidnapped stiles

Alone, Stiles could feel the tiredness start to run through his body, the cuts on his body aching and other places hurting which made him wonder how they were hurting before he blinked a few times, eyes lifting towards the windows and the grey sky, Stiles hoped that the pack would find him. Slumping down in to the bonds, Stiles dropped his chin to his chest as tears gathered in his eyes, he felt scared for the first time since the car accident and he hated the fact that he couldn’t hear for anything which could creep up on him, hated that he couldn’t protect himself, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, Stiles tried to keep the tears away as he finally let the tiredness wash over him.

Silence is Loudest by codarra

(132,553 I Explicit I Complete)  *sterek, human au, sick!stiles, hurt!stiles, first time

Monday dawned fresh and cool and with a lack of Stilinski.

The buzz in the school changed over the week, once Derek started paying attention to it. No longer was the student body talking about where the students were going on vacation, or lack thereof for the more middle-class populace. They were bandying about a different series of words instead.

“Accident.”

“Car crash.”

“Hit and run.”

“Sick. Really sick.”

“Disease.”

“Brain damage.”

“Brain dead.”

“Stilinski.”

“Stilinski.”

“Stilinski.”

Blind

Blind!Stiles

Blind Guy Walking Here by foodunderstandsme

(1,141 I Mature I Complete)  *sterek

Stiles could remeber the last thing he saw, it wasn’t the car that was about to hit him it was Derek Hale. Stiles is now Legally blind hiding his secret from his friends for Three years now their back and his life is turned upside down and all he can think about is Derek.

It’s Just Like You To Come And Go (series) by wednesdays

(2,469 I Teen I Series WIP)

Stiles is blind. Derek may or may not like him a little lot.

Blind Trust by FairyNiamh

(3,255 I General I Complete)  *sterek, high school au, human au

Derek hates his life, hates moving, and hates that some kid keeps staring at him.

I see You Better by theroguesgambit

(4,686 I Teen I Complete)

He dreams, sometimes, of his last moments of seeing.

At the church in Mexico, Stiles is blinded by a Berserker. Derek uses his new wolf status to act as a guide dog, while Stiles adjusts to his new reality.

In the Darkness by Boy On Strings

(7,817 I Mature I Complete) *sterek

Stiles is blinded in the final showdown with the Alpha, Derek tries to comfort him after realizing he almost lost something forever.

Can’t Stay Away by mommymuffin

(10,689 I Not Rated I Complete)  *sterek, magic!stiles, mutilation

“It’s really quite simple, Derek,” Deucalion drawls. “You pick one to kill tonight, you kill the rest later, you become part of my pack.”

“And if I refuse?” Derek growls.

“We’ll kill one of them anyway.”

Heretics and Bastards by JusticeBanana

(13,229 I Mature I WIP)  *steter, historical au, medieval au, nobleman!peter, magic!stiles

Peter is sick of court and the drama it entails. His sister is creating a life for her and her children in a new and promising land that Peter finds cold and horrid. Soon he is dragged into something much bigger than himself and the usual royal court happenings. This boy he thinks he failed to keep from harm may not be safe but he is alive.

Love is Blind by super_queer

(14,238 I Not Rated I Complete)  *major character death, sterek, werewolf!stiles, alpha!stiles

Stiles loses his sight in a terrible accident, but Derek is determined to give him a good life regardless.

Sinking Like a Stone by iamnightbird

(20,012 I Mature I Complete)  *sterek

Derek Hale is convinced he can protect his pack from anything. Kanimas, other packs, even the supernatural that remain myths (like demons and the such), but an event hits him like a punch to the gut to remind him that the things he can’t protect his pack from are the everyday horrors in which life makes us her bitch. [Blind!Stiles]

What Big Eyes You Have (Series) by A_Lesbian_With_Pink_Hair

(20,978 I G-E I Complete)  *sterek, mates

An AU ‘verse in which Stiles is born blind and is Derek’s mate. The rest of the world is just going to have to adjust accordingly because if you think that’s going to stop the boy who runs with wolves, you are horrendously mistaken.

Serendipity by mynamjo

(45,141 I Explicit I Complete)   *sterek, artist!derek, magic!stiles, florist!stiles

Derek moves back to Beacon Hills to open up his new art gallery when he meets a blind boy who won’t leave him alone.

Cornerstone by Vendelin

(83,738 I Explicit I Complete)  *sterek, marine!derek, ptsd!derek, human au

Suffering from PTSD, ex-Marine Derek Hale moves back to Beacon Hills to open a bookshop and find a calmer life. That’s where he meets Stiles, completely by accident. Stiles is talkative, charming and curious. Somehow, despite the fact that he’s blind, he’s able to read Derek like no one else.

He Sees Me For Me by Karlarado

(23,999 I Not Rated I WIP)  *sterek, dad!derek

Derek and his adopted daughter move to Beacon Hills to try and start up a normal life. They meet Stiles in a park with his service/seeing-eye dog and while Malia bonds with the dog, Derek ends up bonding with Stiles.

Windows by dr_girlfriend

(83,015 I Explicit I Complete)  *sterek

Derek has a new neighbor who won’t stop looking.

Blind!Derek

Definitely Actually a Love Story by saltyavocado (rainglazed) 

(2,057 I General I Complete)  *sterek, Scott and Derek are brothers

Second and final part to the Bigbro!Derek verse.

The Colors of the Rainbow by MagnusBanewood 

(3,425 I Not Rated I Complete)  *sterek

When Derek arrives at his new high school he is afraid that people will make fun of him again. But then he meets Stiles and slowly falls in love with his voice.

Feeling You by secretfanboy 

(6,158 I Teen I Complete)  *sterek,

When Derek loses his sight and hearing saving Scott from an attack, the Stilinski’s take him in.  As nurse and patient Stiles and Derek grow closer, but what will happen when Derek gets better?  Will Stiles be left with a broken heart?

[alisamaefawn394]

For my thousandth (1000th) post, I thought I’d talk about my a levels.

Never thought I’d be one to be on top of my a level work? Turns out they’re nowhere near as hard as we’re always led to believe. Absolute breeze so far, especially the work load? Almost three months in and I’ve had all of my work done early and done extra.

It gets better though. I’m still able to spend 10+ hours a week writing just for fun, usually 15ish even if it’s just planning. I’m still able to read 5 books a month. I’m still able to sit and watch two films every weekend. I’m pretty much a free agent.

This past week, I was given an essay on Thursday, not due for another week. During said week I had 3 full days free, 3 evenings free, 2 hours of free lessons in school, and then 1 day to do whatever I wanted with all apart from lunch time.

I didn’t do any work on Thursday evening or Friday. I got my music and all of my french and one part of English done on Saturday, wrote and read a lot, did some extra work and some practise AND watched a film and strictly. All with rest time and a lie in.

On Sunday I only had one essay to write. I had a lie in and was able to write and read and do what I wanted with the day. It took me less than two hours for the entire essay, planning and all, after all of my procrastination was done. I had the rest of the day free and all of my work was cleared. I got my Monday homework done during my frees, the work I’ve been given today I’ve already done most of, and even so the ‘big’ one doesn’t have to be done essentially until January now.

It’s all about time management, even just roughly. I let myself sleep in Friday Saturday Sunday. I never have any plans and they’re my days off. I don’t work in an evening unless absolutely necessary because that’s my rest time, my reading time and my writing time. Yeah sure some would say this isn’t ideal, but having one day where I just get through all of my work is so cathartic. For me that’s usually a Saturday: my parents both have work to do so we put some shitty tv in and all just sit and work all afternoon. Yeah, I’ll work through an evening it it doesn’t phase me. Sometimes I’ll have to work on a Sunday, like if I have an essay, but it’s uncommon.

90% of my work is done on a Wednesday or a Saturday afternoon, on the sofa.

And this actually pays off because I’m ahead of the other students in my classes. For music I’ve analysed half of my set pieces, done 30 pages of harmony work and dictation AND made 45 seconds on my composition. For french I’m almost done with 4 whole ass units and loads of grammar stuff. For English we’ve almost finished 2 whole set texts.

Work smarter, not harder. It’s simple when it comes down to it.

My November achievements:

Three absent days with all of the work caught up on.

Two extra exams and all of the revision completed

Two essays and two assessments aced

All of my homework done and handed in on time or early

All of my class work done to an excellent standard

All of my binders colour coded and organised.

40k words written across various WIPs

4 books read

EPQ paperwork started to be filled out

I’ve officially made friends and have put in the effort with them

I’ve stayed out of any and all drama.

I’ve watched two seasons of gossip girl and three seasons of jane the virgin and countless films

I’ve got a decent amount of sleep every night

I’ve taught myself 4 songs for an upcoming concert on 3 weeks notice

Try telling me that this isn’t efficient. I have time to do everything I want to do and rest as a chronically ill and disabled part time a level student, and yet I still get the work done to a higher standard than all of my classmates. And no it’s not just because I have an IQ 40 points higher than the ‘smartest person’ there. It’s because I work :)

[voidedmuffin]

To-Do List

whoop just a to-do list, and posting thing??? idk heres what to look forward to ig ive been working/stressed for two weeks because of valentines day and my choir stuff, i have half of my choir stuff out of the way

>Tomorrow(wednesday) and thursday: i will be mainly focusing on my honor choir stuff, but ill obviously be online. hit me up! MIGHT do some troll call stuff

>Thursday night/friday: I’ll be setting up commissions! so look out for those(ill still be doing requests though. yes, i do requests if you didnt know that). also posting cosplay stuff from a while ago bc i keep forgetting to

>Friday/friday night: A crap ton of drawing because my valentine thing is already over a week la TE. that and also i have other wips to finish(close to 10. maybe more)

>Saturday: Probably practicing singing stuff for my concert on monday. not that hard bc i already know the music. also drawing. i might go to the library idk

>Sunday: ill probably set up a discord group/server if yall want. also bc im a lonely fuck and i want to talk to people. joIN MEE

>Monday: Uh, i have a concert, no biggie. after this its smooth sailin. and mainly just drawing

>Tuesday: probably just drawing. probably gonna stream

Overall, there’s gonna be more drawing(whether or not i post it lmao) I’ll also probably set up weekly streams(Tuesday, Friday, and maybe Saturday nights.) Most likely starting at 5PM Mst Stay tuned for more updates!

[eirian-houpe]

The Monday Menu

Another joyful Monday, I hope everyone is well, and as happy as possible given the bizarre times in which we are living.

Here’s the plan for this week (and an explanation of each thing for those that are new to my Tumblr)

Monday - The Monday Menu - what it says on the box. A plan for the week.

Tuesday - TMI Tuesday. - Ask me… go on, anything.  Ask my characters -they’ll answer.

Wednesday - WIP Wednesday - Current state of my works in progress. So many!

Thursday - Three Things Thursday - any fic of mine is fair game. Doesn’t have to be Rumbelle, I have Rushbelle, a bunch of crossovers, some shows people might no know, some ST: DSC, some SGA and some Tolkien too… ask three things, I dare ya!

Friday - Final Line Friday. - Assuming I manage to write anything, I will post a word cloud, and the last line that I have written right before I post this.

Saturday - Saturday Secret - another one of those where you can ask about any fic, and I’ll tell (or show) you a secret. Feel free to follow up with conversation or guesses.  I will tell you if you get something right.

Sunday - Seven Sentence Sunday. - yeah, I have to write something to be able to post this.

Writing this week - The hope is that I have time to continue working on Lover’s Leap #14,The Silken Cord that binds, and also spend some time working on Laer o Faen, chapter 26.

As always my inbox is open for thoughts, questions, asks… I don’t restrict people to any particular day of the week, and I - like most fic authors - love to discuss things to do with fics and OUAT.

I just want to add a shout out to those readers who have left me Kudos these last several days.  It has not gone un-noticed.

Talk to me, peeps! My inbox is lonely, and I’m Runnin’ on Faith. (brownie points for anyone who can identify the musical reference, and I’ll tell you why that’s so important to me. - still no takers on this challenge).